ACT English Flashcards Casual

Prepositional Phrases

• Aren’t grammatically essential to the sentence they’re in

  • cross out when locating subject

• Prepositional phrase: preposition+noun+describing phrase

• Common Prepositions: at, by, from, in, into, of, on, to, with

Relative Clauses

• Nonessential info that describes a noun (missing a subject)

• Starts with a relative pronoun:

  • who, whom, whose, which, that, where

• Some require commas, some don’t

  • be able to cross these off and locate root of sentence (subject-verb)

Subject Verb Agreement

• No subject is in a relative clause/parenthesis

  • Cross out relative clauses for main subject & main verb

  • Look at relative clauses for relative subject & relative verb

  • The subject of a sentence can never be in a prepositional phrase

• Pay attention to helping verbs (has/have, was/were, is/are), they must agree with the subject

  • ACT Tip: The ACT loves putting the subject after the verb so read the full sentence

• Infinitives & Gerunds aren’t verbs so there’s no need to check for subject verb

  • Infinitive: to (verb)

  • Gerund: (verb)-ing

    • if gerund’s subject it is singular

• Rules:

  • Titles (books, TV, bands, movies)→Singular

  • Subjects joined by (and)→Plural

  • Everybody, Everything, Every, Anybody, Anyone, No One→Singular

  • Each, Neither, Either→Singular

• Extra Rules

  • One of→Singular

  • Some of→Plural

  • The number of→Singular

  • A number of→Plural

• Collective nouns such as family, group, audience, media, committee are singular

Run-Ons

• Pay attention to run-on forms:

  • Comma btwn. two complete sentences

    Nothing btwn. two complete sentences

    • ACT Tip: Ignore relative clauses and see if the root of the sentence is a run-on.

    • Dependent, Independent, Dependent. Is okay (just no comma btwn. two independent sentences)

• Ways to fix a run-on

  • Period

  • comma+FANBOYS (For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So)

  • Semicolon

    • ;(transition word),

    • Wrong Examples

      • ;(conjunction),

      • ;(subordinating conjunction)

    • semicolon must have a complete thought/sentence on either side of it/transition word+independent sentence (don’t need to capitalize after)

  • Subordinating Conjunction (SWAB)

    • Make one sentence dependent

    • Incomplete sentence (,) Complete Sentence

    • Complete sentence (no comma/SWAB/FANBOY) Incomplete sentence

  • Make a relative clause/comma phrase

    • get rid of the subject

Subordinating Conjunction

Make a sentence dependent:

Time

• after, before, when, while, as soon as, until, since

Cause/Effect

• because, since, so that, as

Condition

• if, unless, even if, provided that, in case

Contrast/Concession

• although, though, even though, whereas, while

Purpose

• so that, in order that

Comparison

• than, as…as

Modifier

• Describes something in a sentence

  • placed next to what it describes

  • placed next to a sentence referring to the same subject it describes

• Identifying Modifiers:

  • after reading think “who or what is performing the action”

  • modifiers don’t need to be at the beginning of the sentence or separated off by commas, if the details describe the wrong subject it’s a modifier

• If there’s no option to put the modifier next to its noun (or the noun it’s modifying doesn’t exist) try to reword the modifier into a dependent sentence with a subject (SWAB)

• ACT Trick: giving answer options like

  • “running fiercely to the bathroom” next to “John…” or “John’s pants”

    • Be careful when there’s apostrophes in modifier questions, most likely it’s not referring to the words with apostrophes

Fragment

• Incomplete sentence missing a subject or a verb in both clauses

• Fragment types

  • Entire sentence is a relative clause (who, which, that, where)/missing a subject

    • fix these by adding a subject & action to the relative clause

  • Entire sentence is a dependent clause (SWAB)

    • Fix these by getting rid of (SWAB) or (who, which, although, because, since, despite)

  • Entire sentence is a gerund phrase

    • fix these by replacing the gerund with a coordinating conjunction

    • if there’s an (-ing) in one clause, and the other is dependent, it’s wrong

  • The sentence starts with a conjunction

Redundancy

You only need one of these

• reason, why, because (only need 1)

• more vs. -er (same thing)

• “due to the fact that” shortened→”because”

Parallelism Summary

• With words in front of a verb such as→to verb-noun, to verb-noun, to verb-noun

  • you can negate the to in the last two because it’s implied from the first one to carry over

  • but you can’t negate the middle or end term by itself (needs consistency)

• Parallelism requires the same tense (past: landed→slept) and same verb form (gerund→gerund, base→base, to base→to base)

• Shows up in lists or when pairing two phrases together (especially with “and” and “or”)

  • “more than” and “is” can also separate two parallel phrases

• Still follows oxford comma rule

  • more than two items in a list (_,_,and_)

Pronoun Reference

• Rules:

  • a pronoun must only stand for one noun (if unclear what the pronoun stands for, try replacing the pronoun with the subject for clarity)

  • A pronoun must replace the noun that immediately precedes it, they must agree in number (singular or plural)

    • Singular noun→singular pronoun, Plural noun→plural pronoun

      • singular: he or she instead of they

  • A pronoun must stand for a noun that exists somewhere in the passage (not implied)

  • Reference Errors involving “this, that, these, those”

    • these words often make it unclear what the pronoun is referring to

    • to fix this add a noun right after the pronoun or replace it entirely

  • Only add a subject if the subject isn’t mentioned directly word for word in a previous sentence, or if the subjects unclear

• Subject Pronouns

  • Singular: he, she, it

  • Plural: they

• Object Pronouns

  • Singular: her, him, it

  • Plural: them

• Possessive pronouns

  • Singular: hers, his, its

  • Plural: their

• Relative Pronouns

  • Singular: this, that, which

  • Plural: these, those

• Reflexive Pronouns (subject performs action on themself)

  • Singular: Himself, Herself, Itself

  • Plural: Themselves

Tenses

Verb Tense Forms

• Present Tense

  • verb-s or (i) included

• Past Tense

  • verb-ed or (a) included

• Future tense

  • will verb

• Present Perfect Tense

  • Has verb-ed or Has (u/e) included

• Past Perfect

  • Had verb-ed or Had (u/e) included

• Present Perfect & Past Perfect Tenses require a past participle

  • Past participle=verb+ed

  • Past participles are always used with to have and to be verbs in front (has packed, was kicked, had screamed)

• Some past participles don’t end in -ed

  • present→past→past participle

  • ACT Tip: think if the word has a normal past tense or -ed form, then see if there are any alternate forms (ex: sang→sung)

    • sing→sang→sung

    • go→went→gone

    • write→wrote→written

    • eat→ate→eaten

    • swim→swam→swum

    • take→took→taken

    • drive→drove→driven

    • run→ran→run

    • give→gave→given

    • ride→rode→ridden

• ACT loves switching “have” with “of” to trick your ear

  • Might have (NOT) Might of

  • Would have (NOT) Would of

    • used for hypotheticals

  • Should have (NOT) Should of

• Be mindful when there’s an answer followed by “of”

• Most common is tense inconsistency (make sure that the tenses in a sentence make sense)

  • most of the time this means changing everything to either past or present tense (often shortest answer)

• Often:

  • times, dates, historical events→past tense

  • statements of fact, way things are→present tense

  • talking about what happens in a book, play or movie→present tense (main verbs)

• Some cases the verbs aren’t consistent because of the meaning of the sentence (two differnet time periods)

  • When (past) but now (present)

  • (past event) caused (present)

Prepositions often associated with verb tenses

Present/Past Perfect (Has/Had)

• since, from (continuous)

Had (up until now)

• by, until

Simple

• at, in, on

If none of these prepositions think simple tense unless answer choices have both simple past & present

Point of View

• Keep the point of view the same within sentences and paragraphs (keep pronouns same POV)

  • First Person

    • I, me, we, us, mine, ours, myself

  • Second person

    • You, yours, yourself

  • Third Person

    • He, she, they, them, one, someone

Commas

Use a comma before a FANBOYS conjunction

• when given (,conjunction) or (conjunction) by itself, look at both sides to determine whether it’s two independent sentences (needs a comma) or one independent, one dependent (doesn’t need a comma)

Use commas after an introductory clause, phrase or modifier

• Most of the time, a comma isn’t required when an introductory dependent clause is moved to the end of a sentence

• Clauses that begin with (after, as soon as, because, before, if, since, unless, until, when) typically don’t need a comma when at the end.

Use commas to seperate three or more items in a series

• three or more items→oxford comma (_,_,and/or_)

• If less than three items, you don’t need a comma, just and/or

Use commas to separate coordinate adjectives that describe the same noun

• two adjectives in a row are coordinate/need a comma if

  • the adjectives are written in reverse order the sentence still makes sense

  • if the adjectives are written with “and” between them instead of a comma they still make sense

• never put a comma between the final adjective and the noun

• never put a comma between adjectives when they’re already joined by and

Use commas to set off nonrestrictive elements

• “that” is always used for restrictive elements (no commas)

• “which” is always used for nonrestrictive (yes commas)

• When a clause describing a noun is restrivtive

  • if a sentence is

    • nonspecific (could be anyone out of a large group of people)

      • ex: the poem, the guy, people

    • doesn’t make sense that it could be anyone in that group

  • the clause is restrictive

  • if a sentence

    • can only be one option

      • ex: best friend, first book

    • putting the name after is nonessential

• Use commas to set off transitions/transition words & intervening phrases

  • (independent sentence; transition word/phrase, independent sentence)

• Use commas to set off direct quotations in dialogue

  • ___ said, “___”

  • “____” the subject said

  • Indirect quotations/rephrasing without quotation marks don’t require commas

    • Ex: My dad said that he would buy me a car this Christmas.

  • Pay attention to “to…not”

    • Ex: I did what I did to improve the system, not destroy it.

  • While doesn’t indicate an attributive clause, but it works to introduce a dependent clause

    • add a comma when it introduces contrasting ideas

      • ex: I enjoy swimming, while my brother prefers hikin

    • don’t use a comma when it indicates simultaneous action

      • ex: the cat slept while the dog played

Comma Abuse

• Don’t separate the subject from the verb with a comma

  • is/are, was/were are verbs (pay attention)

  • Incorrect Ex: The meeting’s purpose, is to bring all party’s together.

• Don’t use commas to separate compound elements that aren’t independent clauses

  • compound elements: things connected by “and”

• Don’t use a comma after the introductory phrase of an inverted sentence

• Most of the time don’t use a comma before a preposition (at, for, in, of, on, to, with)

• Don’t use a comma before an infinitive (to (base verb))

• Subordinating conjunctions don’t have commas before them

  • because, if, although, after, as, that, before, once, even though, although

Apostrophes

• To show possession add an ‘s unless the noun is plural and ends in s, in which case add only the apostrophe at the end

• Contractions:

  • could’ve→could have

  • whose (possessive)

    • can be used for things

• Whenever you’re on a question that deals with contractions always read the sentence with the uncontracted version to see if it makes sense

• Who’s→who is/has

• Whose (possesive)

Word Choice

• Which of the following word choices best expresses the idea that…?

  • choose lively and expressive words

• Which choice fits best/most specifically in the context of this sentence?

  • choose specific words

• Which of the following alternatives would NOT be acceptable?

  • choose the word that’s unlike the others in menaing

• Don’t choose casual or informal language

• Don’t forget your grammar rules

  • ACT Tip: Some questions look like they’re testing you on word choice when they’re actually testing you on grammar

    • Ex: I do my laundry while she does the dishes

      • “Then” would make the sentence a run-on

      • “while” “at the same time” and “as” function as conjunctions

Transitions

• Used with implied relationships between two independent ideas in order to make the relationship between the two sentences absolutely clear

  • Ex: May’s cookies are sweet and sugary. Sam eats them all the time.

    • Though it’s implied that Sam eats May’s cookies because they are sweet and sugary, her cookies could be sweet and he just happens to eat them all the time.

• ACT Tip: Try the different transition answers first, if none fit choose none as the option. Stay aware of the full context.

  • read the context

  • figure out the author’s meaning

  • choose the transition word that conveys the meaning

• Always read the sentence before and the sentence after the one in question

  • transitions are typically at the start of sentences

• Don’t use informal transitions

  • don’t forget about

  • also plus

Common Transition Words

However

• Transition: presents an opposing point or balances a previous statement

• Similar transitions: fortunately, on the other hand, conversely, whereas, while (not time), in contrast, on the contrary, yet, alternatively

Furthermore

• Transition: adds new and supporting information

• Similar Transitions: In addition, also, moreover, and, too, as well, additionally, not to mention

In fact

• Transition: gives emphasis to a point by giving a specific detail/case

• Similar Transitions: as a matter of fact, indeed, to illustrate, for instance, for example

Consequently

• Transition: shows cause & effect

• Similar Transitions: as a result, because, hence, therefore, thus, accordingly so, for this reason

Granted

• Transition: surrenders a point to make another new point (even so)

• Similar transitions: nevertheless, although, regardless, despite, in spite of, even if, nonetheless, still, even so, be that as it may, even then

Finally

• Transition: shows order or sequence

• Similar Transitions: subsequently, previously, afterwards, next, then, eventually, before

In the same way

• Transition: shows similarity

• Similar transitions: in summary, to sum up, in short, in other words

Other Transition Words

Meanwhile

• two events happening at the same time

• contrast two situations

Instead

• Substitute or alternative (happened in place of another)

Otherwise

• consequence

In particular

• emphasize one item among others

Unless

• indicates a condition (if…not, functions similarly)

Transition Sentences

Transitions can be more than one or two words; they can be whole sentences

• a good transition sentence references both preceding key terms or ideas and the ones following it

• The best transitions bring together the main elements on either side, leading from the previous topic to the next

  • When you’re asked to insert the best transition between two sentences, look for words like (this, that, these). These reference words must point to nouns in the surrounding context meaning the transition sentence itself may need to include them

Types of transition questions indicators

• Which choice most effectively guides the reader from the previous paragraph to the new paragraph?

• Which choice would most effectively introduce this paragraph?

• Which choice would provide the most effective link between Sentence X & X?

• At this point, the writer wants to add a statement that would lead into the sentence that follows it. Which choice would best accomplish that purpose?

Sentence Improvement Summary

• Require you to reorder words for clarity and proper grammar

  • Usual Questions:

    • The best placement for the underlined portion would be

    • all of the following would be acceptable placements for the underlined portion EXCEPT

  • General Strategy:

    • Place the underlined portion after the thing it applies to

    • If you’re picking out an entire sentence, ensure any misplaced or confusing phrases are placed after the things they apply to

    • IMPORTANT: Always read the sentence for its meaning and make sure it makes sense

  • Some phrases can be placed in multiple places; in that case use your own judgement

  • Pay attention to LEAST, EXCEPT

Has/Have+Past Participle

unspecified time in past

started in the past and continued to the present

Verb+ed

specified time in past

Had+past participle

one action happened before another

(had is not influenced by singular/plural)

started before in the past and ended before the time pt mentioned

• Ex: By year 12, she had already finished 100 books.

Will have+past participle

will be completed before a certain time in the future

ACT Common Idioms

Accused of, Afraid of, Approve of, Consist of, Capable of

Agree with, Familiar with

Agree to, Contribute to, Object to

Apologize for, Known for, Responsible for, Wait for

Care about, Concerned about, Enthusiastic about

Depend on/upon, Insist on

Different from, Prevent from

Fond of, Proud of

Good at

Interested in, Participate in, Succeed in

Similar to

Think about, Worry about

Colons

• Can be used to connect two independent clauses

• A complete thought must come before the colon

  • The ACT views colons as repetitive with such as, don’t use (such as:)

• A single dash is grammatically identical to a colon

Synonyms of “However”

“Nevertheless” “Nonetheless”

• if you see both as answer choices eliminate them

“Additionally” and “In addition” work the same way

Logical Comparisons

• How to spot: look for comparative adjectives (higher, stronger, bigger, more) followed by “than”

• Compare apples to apples, not apples to oranges

  • Incorrect Ex: The wages in SF are higher than the city of NY.

    • “Those in” should replace “the city of” otherwise you’re comparing wages to a city

Commonly Confused Words-Pronouns

Who vs. Whom

• Who: Subject (performs action)

• Whom: Object (receives action)

Its vs It’s

• read It’s as it is

Affect vs. Effect

• Affect is a verb (indicates cause or action)

• Effect is a noun (the result)

Cite vs. Site

• Cite (to reference something)

• Site (location)

This vs. That

• This: singular

  • something very close to speaker (physically or psychologically)

  • modifies noun right next to it

• That: singular

  • not immediate focus, adds on to previous point

    • Yesterday my mom told me a story that… (can be anywhere in sentence)

Accept vs. Except

• Accept

  • receive

• Except

  • besides

Subjects Plural vs. Singular

Independent Subject (and) Independent Subject→Plural

Independent Subject (and) refers to the same subject →singular

• ex: planets of our solar system and those beyond (both refer to planets, just omitted in second one)

Comparing extent

• ex: your weight vs. my weight

  • still refering to weight

Consider if 1 subject with 2 different modifiers or 2 different subjects

Tip to find where the dependent sentence starts and ends

Starts: Relative pronouns “that, when, why, how”

Ends: find the verb